There is a story told by Henry Lewin about a time in the Second World War in which a Lutheran bishop was imprisoned by a German concentration camp and was tortured by an SS officer who wanted to force him into a confession. In a small room, the two men sat face to face. the one afflicting the other with increasing pain, the bishop who had a remarkable tolerance for pain did not respond to the torture. And his silence seemed to enrage the officer more and more to such a degree that he would hit the victim, this Lutheran bishop, more, harder and harder until the SS officer finally exploded and shouted at his victim, but don't you know that I can kill you? The bishop looked into the eyes of the SS officer and said slowly to him, yes, I know, do whatever you want to me, and I have already died. At that moment the SS officer could no longer raise his arm and lost power over his victim. It was as if he were paralyzed, no longer able to touch the Lutheran pastor. All his cruelties had been based on the supposition that this man, this pastor, would hold on to his life as to his most valuable property and would be quite willing to give his confession in exchange for his life. With the grounds of his violence gone, the torture had become a ridiculous and futile activity. One of my professors from Dallas Seminary says, death must become a major focus in all of living, for if we are not prepared to die while we live, we never really live effectively at all. I'd like to direct your attention to Philippians chapter 1, verses 21 through 26, for here we find the Apostle Paul addressing the subject, the subject which is so anathema in our society today, the subject of death. And again, to repeat what Haddon Robinson has said, death must become a major focus in all of living. If we are not prepared to die while we live, we never really live effectively at all. In Philippians chapter 1 verses 21 to 26, we find as we approach this passage that Paul writes a verse beginning in verse 21, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. And immediately as we enter into this passage, which Paul has written to his friends in Philippi, we're faced with what is known as a transition. The little word for sort of swings like the hinge on a door. It allows us to and requires us to look backward at what has preceded what Paul is writing now. And it also points us forward to what Paul will be writing about in the upcoming passages. So I say it's a transition verse and it summarizes for us and resolves what Paul had spoken about previously and then directs us forward. And it reminds us to look backward. As I say in the preceding paragraph, we see that the issue that Paul has summarized was what was his condition there in Rome, his condition in prison, for which the Philippians would have been concerned. Knowing what kind of reception he had received in their own city, they would have been concerned for the effectiveness, indeed his personal safety, there in Rome as a result. But then this verse also points forward, and notice that Paul rejoices because he is expectant that whatever happens to him is going to be for good. And so this verse swings us forward and shows us that in the prospective eye of Paul he is expecting that the results that he has seen in Rome will continue on in his life regardless of whether he lives or dies. And as distant readers of Paul's letter here to the Philippians now several hundreds of years later, as we look at what Paul has written to the Philippians, I think it's important for us to ask why and how it was that Paul was able to maintain such a consistency and such a commitment to this philosophy of life that he writes here in verse 21, for me to live. as Christ and to die is gain. I think it's important as we begin to look at where the tenacity and the power came from in his life for holding on to this conviction. First of all, I think we need to look a little bit at some of his own background. You may recall in the ninth chapter of Acts, the conversion of Paul. He was traveling along the Damascus Road. He was involved in going after and tracking down Christians in that time in Syria. And along the Damascus Road, a vision confronted him of the resurrected Jesus Christ and challenged Paul with what he was doing and so affected him that his whole life was turned from going in this direction all the way to going in a new direction, from persecuting Jesus Christ and his followers to reaching out to the world on behalf of Jesus Christ. But not only did Paul have a remarkable encounter with the Lord Jesus at the beginning of his spiritual life, He also writes to the Corinthians about an event that took place several years after his conversion. And that was an event that probably was fairly unique to Paul. We only find it in the life of the Apostle John, actually described in the scriptures. But Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12 that he had an experience of being caught up to the third heaven. Now he even admits that he does not know whether he was actually there physically or whether it was simply a spiritual vision that he received, but nevertheless he says that in that experience he heard things that were so amazing and so profound, but they were things that he was not allowed or permitted to repeat. And so, for Paul, he was not one who spoke of the things of the other world glibly. He was one who had had a very powerful impact, not only with one who had come back from the dead personally, but also with the experience of the place of new life for those who had passed on. But not only had he had these experiences, we have to remember by the time he is writing the epistle to the Philippians, Paul has gone through a tremendous life of suffering. Indeed, one commentator has said, after years of suffering and then in bonds in Rome, Paul writes the letter to the Philippians. Yet, as you read this letter, something is very striking about the tone in which Paul writes. A life of hardship, a life of suffering, and yet in the tone of the book of Philippians we read of no regrets, we read no bitterness toward the Savior for all of his hardships, we read of no complaints and we read of no weariness. And this was no sentimental romantic assertion that Paul was making here in verse 21. For to Paul this was the business of his life and indeed the experience of his life qualified him to speak very authoritatively about it. And so again I ask the question of myself and as I read Paul's letter here in these comments in verses 21 to 26, how Paul, how was it that you were so tenaciously and consistently able to hold on to this philosophy that for you to live was for you to live was Christ and to die would be gain. It seems to me the answer that comes back to me from Paul and from this book, the answer that I'm convinced of was that both life and death afforded Paul the opportunity for magnifying and exalting Jesus Christ. Whether he were to live on or whether he were to die, either way he was convinced through his life and through his understanding of Jesus Christ that he could magnify the Lord Jesus Christ through his body. And so this brings me to Paul's philosophy of life. Paul's philosophy of life I'm going to look at in two ways. First of all his philosophy for living and then also his philosophy for dying. And if you notice with me first of all Paul speaks of the prospect of living when he says in verse 21, to me, and he is of course referring to himself personally, to me, living is Christ. For Paul, living meant devoting his attention, his priorities, his resources, his energies, his time, his plans, and his work. all to the glory of Jesus Christ, all to the purpose of exalting Jesus Christ as the Lord. And so it seems to me the one controlling question that Paul asked of himself moment by moment of any activity, of anything he would say, any relationship he would enter into, any work he would apply himself to, how will this bring glory and honor to Jesus Christ? Actually, it seems to me that Philippians 121 is a summary of what is commonly and popularly and appropriately called the spirit-filled life today. And so if you were to paraphrase Paul's statement, for me to live is Christ, you might say Paul is claiming that for him it is the spirit-controlled life that is what it's all about. And when we hear someone being called a spirit-filled believer, we understand the number of things should be true. And of course, these would be things that we would find true of Paul, and should be true of those of us who aspire to be controlled by the Spirit. Those who aspire to be living a life that is for Christ. We would expect in the spirit-filled life that we would find an openness to testifying and acknowledging and identifying with Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Not only that, we would expect in a spirit-filled Christian to find the exhibition of spiritual fruit or the evidence of the fact that the Spirit of God actually lives inside of me. And that evidence Paul calls in Galatians chapter 5 such things as love. such things as joy, we'd expect to find peace, we'd expect to find other fruits of the Spirit, such as patience, and goodness, and kindness, and gentleness, and self-control. These are all the evidences in a person's way of being, way of living, that there is something of God, the presence of His Spirit, inside that person's life. Each one of these virtues will in some measure I believe, find expression in the life of the person who's asking the question, is what I'm doing, is what I'm saying, glorifying to Jesus Christ. But not only will we expect to find an open confession of Jesus Christ and spiritual attitudes and ways of living, but it seems to me we'll also find in a person who would be living for Christ, living the spirit-controlled life, we would also find a third evidence of spiritual life, and that is the characteristic best described, I think, as reproduction. Spiritual reproduction. And if you look at the life of a person who is filled with the spirit, who is controlled by the spirit, their life will impact on those around them, those in their sphere of influence, so that those around them will find in their own lives either an acknowledgement of Jesus Christ or a rejection. And so that the life that is being lived by the spiritual believer brings to those around them a challenge. And that challenge is, will we accept or will we reject the kind of life and the Lord that is being lived for in the sight of this spirit-filled believer. Look at verse 22. Paul says, if I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Notice, fruitful labor? Paul's complete expectation is that just as he has experienced success there in Rome under the help of God, that his whole life, if it continues, will be a life bound up in producing fruitful results. Others will experience, as a result of the impact of his life, the fruit of the Spirit. Others will come to embrace Jesus as their personal Savior, too. I think he reasons that if God's plan for him is to continue in the body, as he says, it will mean the opportunity for further labor and seeing fruit in others' lives. And for Paul, any extension of his life meant an opportunity for planting another church, an opportunity for sharing about the grace of God, the love of God to another soul, and further strengthening the churches in the understanding of the doctrine of life, which was to know Christ. But not only does this concept or this philosophy of Paul's speak of the character of a person who is living for Christ. That is, the spirit-filled quality which expresses these fruits and also results in people coming to know Jesus in their own lives. But it seems to me that it also sets before us a challenge. And that challenge is to ask of ourselves the same question, moment by moment, that Paul asked of himself. So the question comes to you and I, what is life for? What is my life for? What is your life for? Life is either for you and for me, or it is for Christ. And there really can't be middle ground. And the challenge of the life of faith is the challenge of asking this question moment by moment, day by day, and hour by hour. Who am I living for? Am I living for me? Is this action for me? Or is this action for Christ? And constantly qualifying all that I do and all that I am by that kind of question. That is how the spirit-filled life is lived. The spirit-filled life is a relationship with God. The spirit-filled life is a quest for learning and doing what pleases God rather than what pleases me or maybe pleases my Christian friends. It is an attention to the vertical. to our relationship with God. It demands moment by moment communion with God. It demands an interaction with God, a willingness to hear from him through his word, and also an ongoing dialogue with him through prayer, as Paul described it, praying without ceasing. Acknowledging to God our need for his help. Acknowledging to God that he knows what is best. And it's an attitude of keeping myself open. ready to make those adjustments that the Spirit of God through the Scriptures prompts me to be making. That is the Spirit-filled life and that is the challenge for the person who desires that Christ would be their life. And you can almost see something of this dynamic, of this dialogue, of this challenge within Paul's words as you look at the end of verse 22 and then in verse 23. He says, If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet, I do not know what I should choose. Yet, what shall I choose? I do not know. I am torn between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. And then he acknowledges that it's much better though that he remain with the Philippians. So even in Paul's discussion here, you can get a flavor, a tone of somewhat of that a back and forth dynamic, that dialogue with God. Lord, do I stay? Lord, can I stay? Lord, can I go home? And yet always asking the question, what will glorify you the most? What allows the spirit to have the most control and use of my life? And so that is the challenge. of living as Christ. But not only does the Christian philosophy of life speak to the process of living, it also speaks to the dynamic of dying. And this is what Paul speaks of again as he repeats this philosophy. And he says, for me to live as Christ, to die as gain. Paul complements his initial statement of living with this corollary of dying He would, it seems to me, his death would accomplish in his own mind an exaltation. Just as he speaks in verse 20, he says, I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body. It was Paul's conviction that even in death he could exalt the Lord Jesus Christ. And so I think that there is a gain here that Paul is speaking of. When he speaks of dying, he says, to die is gain. And he says that there would be a gain for me, not only publicly, but also personally. And I'd like to just point those things out to you briefly. First of all, a Christian's death should have a positive impact for Christ in public. that what Paul had said earlier concerning his condition was that it was his concern that he would have sufficient strength and courage regardless of whether he was martyred or not to stand fast for his testimony to Jesus Christ. It seems to me that Paul, as an apostle, felt that his martyrdom would magnify the supreme power of the love of Jesus Christ to control one's life even to the point of death. So that for Paul he was convinced that he could even die and that as he died his death would command in other people an amazement that this Jesus whose love was so powerful could give Paul the confidence to go to death. And so it seems to me that what we need to ask ourselves is Does the supreme love of Christ so control us that we are willing like Paul to say and to believe that even our own personal death could be a gain? Because it could testify to other people of what we think of the supremacy of Jesus Christ. What will people say was the spiritual impact of your life at your funeral. The love of Christ was so real and compelling as to make Christ's honor more important for Paul than his life. It also seems as we look at this passage that Paul not only had a sense of the public gain that might come from his death or his martyrdom, but also that there would be a private or personal value to his death or martyrdom. When we read of Paul's conviction that death would be gained It reminds us that for Paul, he was speaking from a personal condition where death would mean the removal from suffering. It would lift him from prison to the presence of Christ. It would give him heaven for earth. It would give him enjoyment for labor. It would give him spiritual perfection in the place of wrestling against sin. And he would pass from self-denial and tears into the joy of his Lord. So it's very easy for me to see how Paul privately would see the prospect of death as a greater gain than the prospect of living. And if you look in verse 22, you notice that Paul even expresses a personal indecision between living and dying. He says, I do not know what to choose. And so even for Paul, you can see instantly his dilemma of what would be better. Now, in terms of Paul's view of what takes place when one dies, it seems that he takes it beyond simply stating an overall philosophy of what our attitude should be to death, and he goes even further in describing what death is all about. And that is how he concludes this passage, and he takes us down through verse 26 from verse 23. The indecision that Paul expressed in verse 22, yet I do not know what to choose, further expressed his frame of mind. And you notice in verse 23 that he says, I am torn between the two. So you find in this tone that he expresses the feeling of there being a pressure building up in his life under his circumstances. A pressure between his private desire to go on home, to leave and a sense of obligation to stay and to serve. And his personal desire seems to be overtaken by his acknowledgement and recognition of his public responsibility. And so here in a most succinct form in verse 23, we find described Paul's understanding of what death is. He says, I have a desire to depart and be with Christ. So on the one hand he saw death as what he would call a departing. This is a very familiar word to the ancient Greeks and to the Romans because this was a word that was used when a ship would launch out to sea they would raise the anchor and when a guest would leave your home after having dinner they would go through this departing. But the most popular use of this phrase or this figure of speech was when an army or caravan was breaking camp. They, as they would depart, would pull up the stakes, fold up the tents, load up the animals, and then they would depart from their camp. And so this is why in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 4, Paul, as he speaks about death, he speaks of it as a holding up of this earthly tent. And of course we know from what Jesus said, in John chapter 4 and John chapter 14 he has gone ahead to build for us a mansion or a house much greater than any earthly tent that we might have here. In a similar way Paul also in other passages such as 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and Acts chapter 7 speaks of death as being the sleeping of the body. basically a separation of the soul and the spirit from the body until the body is resurrected to be rejoined with the soul and the spirit in eternity. And so Paul says on the one hand death is a departure and for the body it is like sleep. But he says furthermore that this departure is for a purpose. We depart in order that we can arrive. And this is what he is speaking of, the arrival, when he says, I am torn between the two, I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. And in that one little phrase, be with Christ, he speaks of the idea of arrival. So he says in verse 23, he has the desire to depart and be with Christ, but this departure is like the threshold. It is the way of coming to the arrival. It is the doorway into heaven. This condition of being in the presence of Christ was what Jesus described to the thief on the cross. He said, this day, you will be with me in paradise. And again, as I said in John chapter 14, Jesus spoke of preparing a place, a much better place, in order that his disciples could be with him. And so death, from the point of view of the Apostle Paul, and from the point of view of Christian theology, is a departure, and it is an arrival. It is a departure from something temporal to something permanent, something better. And this is why Paul says, for me, to live is Christ, but to die is gain. It is far much better, he says, that I would pass on. and yet a sense of his apostolic mission. His apostolic mandate was that there was more work to be done. And so he acknowledges to the Philippians in verse 24, it is more necessary for you that I remain on in the body. And his desire, his personal desire is controlled by the needs of his friends. Convinced of this, he says in verse 25, I know that I will remain. And I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again, your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me." And so we have seen in a nutshell what Paul's philosophy of life and his philosophy of death is. And as I have sort of thought about this passage, It reminds me of how it seems like all through the news media and all through political discussions today the whole issue of health care comes to mind. I suspect that there are a number of you who are connected with that industry and would be aware of the fact that many insurance companies are complaining and are having difficulties with the fact that costs of health care and insurance premiums are skyrocketing. And of course a lot of this has to do with the fact that there are skyrocketing costs connected with the amazing technologies that are available for sustaining life. And in a society where death is so feared by people, in a post-Christian society like we live in today, a society that has basically rejected God, there is this mounting, escalating fear of death because we have no foundation. The society has no foundation, no philosophy for living, no philosophy of death as we have here in the letter to the Philippians. So it seems that more and more our medical community is being constrained, is being forced to employ longer and longer life-sustaining technology, more and more expensive. and the cost can be economically astronomical. But I ask you and I ask myself, does not a philosophy of life, such as Paul has given us here, help us have a proper view towards these things that we will encounter either through our own lives or through our own friends? Does this not help us have a right perspective when we encounter this kind of challenge, the challenge of our own health. And in light of Paul's attitude, I believe as believers in Jesus Christ, we should not fear death. We should not go out kicking and screaming. It is not noble for a Christian to do that, grasping for every last hope that having one more year One more month, one more day, it seems to me undignified for the believer in Jesus Christ. And when we come face to face with death in our life or in the life of a loved one, I think it's important for us to be careful to employ this philosophy to govern all of our decisions in these areas. And I cannot tell you what is the extreme or what is the appropriate. in the use of such technologies as are available, I simply use that as an illustration or an example of how important and how contemporary and how real it is for you to be employing Paul's philosophy of life and death and to remember that death is actually a departure to something very much better. The flip side, of course, of this concern for the astronomical costs and stresses that people will put themselves through in order to hold on to this life is also a concern. In light of Paul's attitude, should we as believers in Jesus Christ fear life? How many people are saying it would be so much better for this person if they could die now? But it seems to me that Paul, sitting in jail, not knowing his prospects, not being in the most ideal of circumstances would say, that is up to God. So long as I have life, he says, I can have fruitful labor for Jesus Christ. Even in my attitude, even in simply my spirit, I can command people to look at Jesus Christ because he is my hope. And he is my source of confidence. And he is the one that gives me joy. He is the one that helps me to overcome the sorrows of the difficult situations. And we can, I believe, know that as long as God gives us breath, our mission is not complete. So this is Paul's philosophy, as I say, of life and death. And I believe it sets before us a challenge of what spiritual living is all about. and what God's perspective on life is all about and how we should view death as a departure to something better, to be with him. Let's close in a word prayer.